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Broken Families, Made Whole

Carol Sanger (Op-Ed, Jan. 5) makes as strong a case as can be made for permitting grandparents and other third parties to petition state courts for visitation rights with children. Ultimately, however, it would be a mistake to permit such petitions.

Entertaining requests to override parents' decisions about who gets to spend time with their children undermines parental authority and threatens the stability of the family's home environment.

The issue is whether to trust parents to decide what is best for their children or whether to give judges the power to second-guess parental choices. In cases of conflict, parents' decisions should be final and not subject to appeal.